Dems reject McConnell deal on cybersecurity bill
Senate Democrats on Tuesday rejected an offer from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to speed up the Senate’s consideration of cybersecurity legislation.
The Kentucky Republican tried to get unanimous consent to wave a procedural vote expected on Wednesday and move directly to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). The deal would have allowed Republicans and Democrats to offer 10 amendments each to the legislation.
{mosads}McConnell called his offer “a good and fair start that exceeds the request from our friends across the aisle.”
But Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) quickly rejected the offer, saying that, “I can’t imagine how he could make this offer with a straight face. To have amendments pending? That’s like nothing.”
“Having a robust amendment process has nothing to do with having amendments pending,” he added. “We want to have a reasonable number of amendments, and there will be votes on those amendments.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, quickly fired back at Reid.
“This is disgraceful,” McCain said. “By blocking this legislation you’re putting this nation in danger by not allowing the Senate of the United States to act against this very real threat.”
The showdown on the Senate floor comes after leadership offered a deal on amendments that, if successful, could have speed up consideration of the cyber legislation as members prepare to break for a five-week recess.
Despite Reid’s rejection of the deal, McConnell remained optimistic that they would be able to come to an agreement on the cyber bill, citing bipartisan interest in getting the proposal passed.
“I think there may well be a way forward here,” he said. “I think there’s enough interests on both sides to try to continue to discuss the matter and see if there’s a way forward.”
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) are backing the bill and have circulated a draft managers amendment to the long-stalled cyber bill, which would address some, but not, all of the privacy concerns raised by lawmakers.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a chief privacy advocate in the Senate, said on Tuesday that the legislation didn’t go far enough, adding that “dozens of cybersecurity experts have said that it wouldn’t do much to stop sophisticated large-scale attacks like the horrendous attack at the Office of Personnel Management.”
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